I'm taking a moment to pile on. Now, let me say this: I do love me some WholeFoods. The fruits and veggies appear to be Heaven sent. There's almost a halo of superiority that envelops patrons strolling the aisles. Even a quick dash-in leads one into a consumer ecstasy of "natural" goodness. Food ectoplasms await those standing in check-out lines, our bodies anticipating the moral enlightenment behind our choices of turkish apricots, soy nut butter, caribbean tofu, and original Nasoya nayonaise. We leave floating on a cloud of wellness nirvana.

Woe is we. Woe is we living on all the Higher Plateaus Of Smart. No doubt in the coming months, there will be more outrage from all the wounded parties. Questions will be raised, conclusions overturned and conclusive issues investigated. Yet, our very own Elizabeth Tracey (my guest on this month's Podcast) opines on her own blog about the analytical doubt that's been created, and it's the particular nature behind this newly discovered doubt that I believe is the greater issue. While facts will be debated and reviewed, I don't think that pure 100% FACTS will alter the greater perception that may now exist within the court of public opinion. No, it wasn't just the facts that flamed out---it was that self-anointed (did someone say "smug") morality and lifestyle that's now being nudged off the cliff. That now is taking the far greater hit. That now has to cede the moral high ground.

The simple fact that a certain measure of doubt has been created, shows that we're officially living in "The Fantastic Age of What-If". In this instance, the 3,000-pound-elephant-in-the-room-What-If is------what if regular supermarket food is on the same food health chart as any Organic Stuff?

I wonder if any tie-dyed in the wool healthy food fanatics will now "dispute" the Science. (I thought because Science was SCIENCE, we weren't allowed to dispute?) Maybe all this will pass, and the topsy-turvy nature of things will right themselves back to Status Quo-ville. However, at the very least this certainly puts a fly in the buttermilk behind the purity of natural foods. I somehow suspect that (as an example) Vegans will still be Vegans, not because of any facts but because deep down they don't rely on Science, they rely on what they feel inside. And what they feel their bodies feel inside. More power to Vegans and to everyone else who makes choices they believe are healthy. Who can knock that. Certainly not I.

I still love my WholeFoods. Will still buy my same stuff. Will still walk in with my head in the air. But maybe, just maybe everybody over at ShopRite, SuperFresh and Safeway will start walking a little bit taller.

DisclaimerThe views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the blog author(s). The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by Welch Medical Library of The Johns Hopkins University.